After going many years of not playing board games (not since I was a kid), me and my family started picking them up again last year. Just casually, and mainly Monopoly (though we did dig Cluedo and The Game of Life out of the cupboard as well) and so last Christmas I decided to buy Ticket to Ride as a family gift after coming across it a number of times & watching one of Wil Wheaton's TableTop eps on it. It was a big hit and we played a ton of it over the holidays, and after. As such, I later picked up The Settlers of Catan after doing the same.

I could look around again and watch some more vids (and still might), but I was wondering if any of you guys had any recommendations to share? I'm starting to think of Christmas presents (I always start early) and thought I may do the same again this year if something takes my fancy! (We have the NA version of Ticket to Ride so I'm already considering the EU version)

Thinking 3-4 players, something which won't take too long to learn, has good replay value and would be good for a family setting?

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.

I don't really play many board games these days myself (not through lack of wanting, but lack of relatively geeky friends), but see them discussed and recommended every now and again.

Primarily, the best place I'd go to for recommendations is Penny Arcade, because Gabe and Tycho are big fans and every now and again post big news posts about awesome new board games they've found, which inevitably make me grumble that I can't try them. I tried to find a list for you, but unfortunately I don't think they actually have one...just random news posts (that you can't search through) every now and again...so sorry about that If you have time though, have a look there!

There look to be some decent ones there! Also, if you get a chance, go to a Comic Con local to you when there's next one on. There are entire stalls for board games, and always a lot of choice.

Happy hunting

"Perhaps this is what I have always wished for since that day. The loss and destruction of all. That's right, one must destroy before creating. In that case, if my conscience becomes a hindrance to me, then I will simply erase it. I have no other choice but to move forward....therefore!" - Lelouch vi Britannia/Zero, Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch

Cheers bud!Thankfully my family enjoy playing board games too so it has been nice being able to get back into playing them again.

I'll probably do some more digging but the Scotland Yard game (from the link you posted) sounds particularly fun and is one I haven't come across before.

In Scotland Yard, one of you takes on the role of Mr X, a criminal of some unspecified and hopefully non-violent sort. The rest of you are detectives trying to track down and catch the first player. If the game ends and Mr X is still at large, the solo player wins, although in our experience this doesn't happen very often.

The odd, asymmetric semi-cooperative structure of Scotland Yard is its first hook. The second is the clever way it hides information from most of the players. The detectives move their pieces across the board (a map of London) quite openly, paying for taxi, bus and Underground journeys from their limited budget; but Mr X moves about in secret, checking the board for the optimum route (wearing a cool visor to stop players from spotting where he's looking) and noting down his position each turn on a pad.

Scotland Yard is different every time but always tense. The moments when the net is closing in and escape seems impossible are exceptionally memorable.

Gonna give this a closer look at the very least!

Another one I'm eying atm is Dead of Winter:

Crossroads is a new series from Plaid Hat Games that tests a group of survivors' ability to work together and stay alive while facing crises and challenges from both outside and inside.

Dead of Winter is the first game in this series, designed by Isaac Vega and Jon Gilmour. It puts 2-5 players together in a small, weakened colony of survivors in a world where most of humanity are either dead or diseased, flesh-craving monsters. Each player leads a faction of survivors with dozens of different characters in the game.

Dead of Winter is a meta-cooperative psychological survival game. This means the players are working together toward one common victory condition--but for each individual player to achieve victory, they must also complete their personal secret objective. This secret objective could relate to a psychological tick that's fairly harmless to most others in the colony, a dangerous obsession that could put the main objective at risk, a desire for sabotage of the main mission, or worst of all: vengeance against the colony! Certain games could end with all players winning, some winning and some losing, or all players losing. Work toward the group's goal but don't get walked all over by a loudmouth who's only looking out for their own interests!

Would recommend the TableTop web series if you haven't watched any of it before btw, even if you don't really play them yourself. I just got done watching The Resistance episode with Felicia Day heh.

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.

I recognise a couple of names there but none which I've watched any vids of or done any research on. I shall look each of those up though & see what I think! Recommendations are a big help when there are sooo many out there to pick from heh

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Now the only problem with my habit of starting early with gifts is that I now have to sit on them for 13 weeks & keep quiet haha. All part of the fun though! Hopefully they'll go down as well as Ticket to Ride & Catan did last year

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away.